1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tool for creating a finishing design on a surface of a wall or ceiling of a building.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous tools have been patented for tools that create designs in finishing surface materials such as joint compound (also called topping), plaster, and stucco. The term “finishing surface material” is defined as including any of these materials.
The tool of U.S. Pat. No. 1,789,627 has a smooth working surface that contains projections the are pressed against an upper wet coat of “paint or plastic material” to remove the portion of the upper wet coat adjacent to each projection from a lower dried coat.
A hand mit having an uneven surface constitutes the device of U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,767. The working surface is pressed into “mortar mix” that has been applied to a panel in order “to obtain a simulated stone texture thereon.”
The process of U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,999 involves placing a stencil on surface, applying texture slurry onto the stencil, and removing the stencil. If desire, a trowel “may be lightly drawn across the newly texture area” more closely to match the appearance of an adjacent area.
The tool of U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,525 comprises a plurality of closed-cell polyethylene foam prongs “arranged side-by-side in a bundle, the bundle having a . . . lower end . . . attached to one side of . . . [a] grip, and the top end of the bundle of prongs expanding out in a splay pattern . . . .” In use, the upper ends of the prongs are dipped into “a drywall joint compound, plaster, or stucco material,” which is then daubed onto the prepared drywall repair area . . . until the desired area is completely cover[ed].”Consequently, the prongs are not arranged into a pattern that it is desired to duplicate on the surface of the drywall. Furthermore, the prongs do not project from a base that, when the tool is placed into a container of finishing surface material, is sufficiently close to the wall or walls of the container that the material does not cure. The tool does, however, optionally employ an “extension pole” in order to “ . . . allow the user to reach ceiling and upper wall locations . . . .”
The texturing tool in U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,801 employs a blade or base having a number of holes for temporarily retaining joint compound that is to applied to a wall by daubing the blade on the wall. From the figures and the claims, it is evident that each of the holes extends “through the tool blade from the first side to an opposite, second side thereof . . . .” Thus, not only does this texturing tool not comprise projections extending from the bottom of the base, but the holes prevent the blade or base from being utilized to prevent curing of the joint compound in a container therefor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,006 describes and claims an applicator unit having an oval cross-sectional shape with a multiplicity of cavities on the bottom to be filled with compound, such as drywall compound, by having the applicator placed in a container, which appears not to be the original container for the compound, having compound therein. The applicator is then pressed against a substrate, such as a ceiling or a wall, to create a desired pattern. The different cross-sectional shapes of the applicator and the container clearly demonstrate that the applicator, when placed in the container, cannot be sufficiently close to the wall or walls of the container that the material does not cure.
The applicator of United States patent publication no. 2002/0001636 is, except for cross-sectional shape and the fact that the applying portion is a sponge, essentially the same as the applicator of Pat. No. 6,756,006 except that the cavities for transfer of the uncured texture material are in a sponge.
And the tool of U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,083 is designed to place designs in an already applied layer of wet plaster. Furthermore, the working surface of the tool is smooth, having neither projections nor cavities.